golden
by Maristela Freesia
Summary: The last thing he sees is the sheet of pure gold hair in the backseat.


**Warning: this fic is on the long side. But hopefully it's also worth it.**

**golden**

_this is how they meet..._

They're ten years old and they're on a playground.

He's swinging and she gets onto the swing next to him. After watching for a minute, she starts swinging, too. While neither of them actually say anything to the other, they start working together to try and match their swinging up and down. Finally they get it perfectly, their legs pumping in time, and at the same moment they start laughing and then stop pushing their legs, letting themselves slow.

When the swings calm down and they step off, they look at each other for the first time. Her first thought is that he's nice but a little grungy-looking, and he looks sort of sweet but not nearly as rich as she is. His first thought is that she looks pretty and her hair- hair that looks really pretty and really golden- is sparkling, and suddenly he understands why all his friends tease girls and try to gross them out. It's because they feel like this.

"Hi," he says, being the first to break the silence. "I'm Alfie Lewis."

"Hi," she says, less experienced at making friends due to her sheltered life. "I'm Amber Millington."

"That was fun," he says.

"Yeah, that was fun," she agrees.

Alfie decides not to point out that she's only repeating what he says, instead saying, "Do you wanna go again?"

Amber smiles. "Sure."

They climb back onto their swings and push their legs back and forth until Amber's nanny comes to get her. They say goodbye thinking they'll see each other again later.

Alfie comes back to the swings for a week and doesn't see her. He wishes that she would come back. He likes Amber.

_this is how they find each other..._

They're fourteen and they're at boarding school.

She's there because her dad is tired of having her doing nothing and failing homeschooling. He's there because his parents want him to succeed. Both of them applied- or in her case, had an application sent in- to the school, and both of them got accepted to Anubis House.

The moment he sees her, there's an overwhelming sense of deja vu. He's seen this girl before, a long time ago. And somehow he remembers that little girl he meant on the playground, because of the glint of sunlight on pure gold hair.

"Hi," he says, semiconsciously echoing the words from that first day. "I'm Alfie Lewis."

Instead of saying what she said, though, she flips her hair back. "Amber Millington," she answers, in this bored, who-are-you-to-me tone. He doesn't like it and is about to ask if she remembers him when he realizes it probably sounds a little weird to say "Remember how we met for one day four years ago?"

So Alfie just smiles. "Nice to meet you."

"I know," Amber answers airily.

She's not the same girl that he met four years ago, but that makes him all the more determined to make her notice him.

_this is how they get together..._

They're fifteen and he thinks he might be in love.

It's prom night, and the world is a swirling blur of colors, beauty, and romance. This is at least their sixth dance in a row, but it's also their first slow dance and they're really, really enjoying it.

"You're a really good dancer, Amber," he says, managing to speak around all the I love you's caught in his throat.

She gives him a dazzling smile. "You're pretty good too, Alfie."

"Bet you didn't think we'd be fighting Rufus Zeno on our prom night," he jokes.

"Ugh, that freak _ruined_ our prom," she moans, but then he gives her a twirl and she gets caught up in laughing.

Her hair is sparkling gold, and while he knows that it's cheesy, he would probably never get tired of seeing it every day. After all, if he had that gold, he'd be a rich man.

Alfie catches Amber in his arms, and she gives him such a beautiful smile that if he weren't so scared right now, he'd tell her that he's loved her, maybe even since that day on the playground five years ago.

_this is how they split apart..._

They're eighteen, graduating, and going their separate ways.

She's going into fashion design; he's going into special effects for movies. He's also going abroad.

It was a joint decision and everything- they both agreed that it was for the best if they split up, and they promise they'll meet up again, but that doesn't make it even a little easier.

"I'm really going to miss you, Amb." His voice almost cracks from the pain he's feeling, because he loves Amber like he's never loved anyone, anything, and saying goodbye just makes it seem more real than he wants it to. But he can't let her see how much it hurts- she'd want him to stay.

"I'm going to miss you too, Alfie." She can't feel a thing. She's actually saying goodbye to her first true love- and Mick doesn't count because it wasn't real. No, this is a love that goes straight to her core. And she's letting it go, willingly, and it's siphoning any pain- anything she could feel away.

They lean in for one last kiss and it lasts forever but it's not long enough, because this forever has to end. The taxi driver honks the horn, and Amber pulls away. There's tragedy in her eyes but she forces a smile for him. "Love you... see you." She runs to the taxi before Alfie can see the tears in her eyes.

The last thing he sees is the sheet of pure gold hair in the backseat.

_this is how they meet again..._

They're twenty-three when they see each other again.

He's on his way out to a job interview. She's on her way to lunch. Both of them are on the London Underground going the same way in the same train car.

It's him who sees her first- or rather, he sees her hair. As he does with every perfect blonde, he cranes to see her face, knowing fully well that the odds are against him actually being reunited with the girl- well, really, woman- he loves.

But the problem is, this one doesn't look random. She looks perfectly like the way _she_ did when he last saw her, but that's not possible.

It's at this point when she realizes that some strange person is staring at her. She turns to look at him, and when she sees his face, her jaw drops. That's just not _fair..._

The train grinds to a stop right where they both were going to get off anyway, and they make sure they get off on the same side. Then when the flood of people subsides and the world whirls on around them, it's like it's just them in the station, and she flies into his arms with such surety, such familiarity, that it feels like nothing's changed. It's almost like before they graduated, before he left.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Amb?" he chokes out through the ecstasy that's swamping him.

"Too long, Alfie," she answers, a grin on her face the likes of which he's never seen. "You know, I was just going to lunch, do you want to come with me?"

"Can't," he answers, and the regret in the voice is real. "I've got a job interview. Maybe some other time?"

"Maybe," she says, allowing hope to linger in her voice.

He looks her up and down. "You haven't changed a bit, you know."

Amber smiles. "Good luck. With the job," she adds quickly.

Alfie smiles, but she can feel that it's a little bit fake. His eyes are fixed on her hand at her side, and his voice is suddenly hard, flat, and bitter. "Congratulations. Bye." He goes towards the exit with such an abrupt air that it leaves her feeling empty. Sadly, she glances down at the engagement ring on her finger.

"I love you," she whispers to the ghost of him that she can still see.

_this is how he makes her whole..._

They're twenty-four when she finally falls and he's there to catch her.

It's not an arranged meeting; in fact, he left so suddenly that they never had time to discuss another meeting, and he hasn't seen her since. Later, he realized it was a little strange of him to leave so quickly and hoped she wasn't upset; he just couldn't stand seeing her with that ring on her finger when he didn't put it on.

But when he sees her again, he's wandering through a park. It's a weekend and for once he's not up to his neck in late projects, so he decides to spend it in a green park, full of nothing but sweet air, soft sunshine, and a blonde girl sobbing into her hands.

He knows, in that way that sometimes, you just _know_ something, that it's her before he gets close. So without further ado, he goes over to the bench, sits down, and pulls her head towards his shoulder.

Without even hesitating, she flings her arms around his neck and sobs all the harder. It's such a saddening sight that all he can do is stroke her hair and whisper "It's all right, Amber. It's okay."

There's no keeping track of how much later it is when Amber takes one last deep breath and pulls away, sitting upright and sniffling. The first thing she says, however, instead of why she's sad, is "I'm sorry, Alfie."

This was so far from what he expected that he can only answer with an automatic "It's fine," and then ask, "Wait, sorry for what?"

"My mascara," she sniffs. "It's all over your shoulder."

Alfie casts a glance towards the shoulder of the shirt and sees that indeed, there's black smudged all over it. "It'll come out," he answers quietly. "It's not as important."

"As what?" Amber asks, wiping a stray tear away.

"As you. What's the matter?" Only now does he glance down at her hands, to see if the engagement ring has been replaced by one for marriage, but this only increases his confusion.

"He broke it off," she answers, tears beginning to gather in the corners of her eyes again. "He just... _did._ I think he was cheating-" the rest of her sentence is cut off by a choked sob.

Alfie pulls her into his shoulder again, and she cries there for a little while again. Idly he wonders who she was even engaged to in the first place, and why he was stupid enough to cheat on Amber, but refrains from asking either question as she says through tears, "And he called me hideous."

That... it's unthinkable.

"Well, then, he was a liar!" Alfie says, with such conviction in his voice that Amber looks up from the safety of his shirt. He looks genuinely upset. "Anybody who calls you hideous has to be blind. You're the most beautiful person I know, I've always thought so."

Sniffling, a smile begins to perk up the corners of her lips. "Really?"

"Always," he answers, without hesitation. "You're beautiful, Amb. Inside and out. That's why I love you."

She smiles, a smile filled with regret and hope, fear and adoration. "I love you too."

A few days later, Amber moves straight from her ex's house to Alfie's. He can't begin to say how happy he is she's there.

_this is how the rest of their lives go..._

They're twenty-six when he proposes. It's not some cheesy Valentine's proposal, and it's not some little private proposal. No, it's her birthday and he's determined to make it special. He takes her to a concert and pays extra for front-row seats, and then when it's over and they're the last ones to leave, he gets up on the stage. She's asking what he's doing but when he gets on one knee, she screams.

"All right, since I think you can see what's coming," he says with a grin, "I'll just cut to the chase. Amber, I love you, but next year, I want to celebrate the birthday of Amber Lewis... so will you marry me?"

She jumps up on the stage and gets down on her knees to fling her arms around his neck. "I love you, Alfie," she whispers. "Yes, I'll marry you."

They're twenty-seven when they get married- and it _is_ before Amber's next birthday, so they celebrate her birthday as the Lewises. The wedding is private, but Amber convinced her father to spend a fortune on it, so it's not small by any means. The only guests are family and all seven of their former housemates. The congratulations are plenty; Fabian and Nina, who are already married, can't stop saying how happy they are; Mara catches the bouquet, and Alfie has a suspicion that Jerome is going to use this to his advantage; even Amber's father pulled his head out of the sand to attend his daughter's wedding.

In a word, it's the _perfect_ wedding.

They're thirty when they have their first and only child- a daughter. Names are hard, because they have so many beautiful ideas for names and so many people to name her after, but in the end it's agreed: her name is Sarah Victoria Lewis. Everybody who hears her name says it's beautiful, it's two classic names, but all of their old housemates know better. They named her because in a way, Sarah and Victor are the reason that they're together.

They're sixty-one when they become grandparents. Sarah has made herself a beautiful life, with a wonderful husband. Their first grandchild is a boy named Carl; two years later, their second is a girl named Lindsay. Both of them are beautiful, and Amber and Alfie swear to be the best grandparents they can.

They're eighty-nine when they're great-grandparents. Lindsay has twins- a girl and a boy- and if there's ever a sign that their time has passed, it's these two sweet, innocent babies named Amber and Alfie.

"I know they say that you're supposed to name children after the dead," she tells them, "but they also say that you're supposed to name them after people you love, and I figured, I'd rather name them after you two than anyone else."

They're eighty-nine when Amber gets sick. She's weak and tired, and both she and Alfie know what's going to happen, that she's going to see what's on the other side. But it's like the last time they split up: just because they're ready for it doesn't make it any easier.

He's eighty-nine when his heart fails in his sleep. It's fast and painless, and everyone knew he wouldn't last long without Amber anyways. That's how much he loved her.

_this is how they're together for eternity..._

They're fifteen again. They're at the prom and they're so in love.

"I love you," he breathes.

She looks at him and smiles. "I love you too."

(This is a happy ending, and while not everyone will get one, they're thankful that they did.)

_this is the story of them, and they wouldn't have it any other way._

**I looooove this couple. It brings out the best in me. I totally think Alfie deserves a happy ending, and so does Amber. It's so sweet. Amfie forever... so, there's a very nice review button down there, so if you would click it and give concrit I'd love that. Thanks for reading this the whole way through, writing this was a great was to spend my Sunday afternoon. Love, Mari.**


End file.
